Irish Gazettehttp://rhsirishgazette.org
The Student News Site of Rosemount High SchoolTue, 13 Feb 2018 04:03:39 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.423rd Winter Olympic Gameshttp://rhsirishgazette.org/766/sports/23rd-winter-olympic-games/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/766/sports/23rd-winter-olympic-games/#respondSun, 11 Feb 2018 04:02:44 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=766The 23rd Winter Olympics are here! They are taking place in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They will go from the 9th to the 25th. This is actually the first time that South Korea has hosted the Olympics and the second time that the Olympics have been in South Korea (the first being 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. A total of 2,952 athletes with 92 countries participating. Although there are still tensions between North and South Korea, North Korea agreed to enter the Olympics with 2 figure skaters, 3 alpine skiers, 3 cross-country skiers, and 2 short-track speed skaters. America on the other hand, has 24 alpine skiers, 10 people in the biathlon, 16 bobsledders, 20 cross-country skiers, 10 curlers, 14 figure skaters, 29 freestyle skiers, 48 ice hockey players, 10 in luge, 4 in skeleton, 7 ski jumpers, 26 snowboarders, and 13 short track speed skaters, in total being 231 Winter Olympic athletes. Hope you can watch the the Olympics! Remember, it can be found on NBC almost all day starting at around 12 Central time, around most dates.
]]>http://rhsirishgazette.org/766/sports/23rd-winter-olympic-games/feed/0A Hail Mary in the Deep South: Democrats Win in Alabamahttp://rhsirishgazette.org/743/news/a-hail-mary-in-the-deep-south-democrats-win-in-alabama/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/743/news/a-hail-mary-in-the-deep-south-democrats-win-in-alabama/#respondFri, 12 Jan 2018 02:30:22 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=743The Deep South state of Alabama, considered the antithesis of the progressive states like California has elected a Democrat to the Senate for the first time since 1994. Democrat Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore by just 20,000 votes on December 12th, narrowing the Republican majority in the Senate to 51.

Regardless of the validity of the allegations this election does have consequences, it puts a black stain on the party because they supported Moore after the allegations were revealed and many denied that the allegations were true. Jones’ victory also brought light to quarrels in the Republican Party between the anti-establishment far-right faction and the establishment conservative faction. Some mainstream Republicans endorsed Jones, and a senator even went as far to donate to Doug Jones citing “Country over party” in his tweet aimed at people supporting Roy Moore within his party. Many Republicans also refused to vote for Moore, either not voting or supporting Jones by putting up “GOP for Jones” signs in their front lawns.

These divisions between the far-right and conservative factions may have been why white turnout was so low for the election. Meanwhile, the Democrats were united behind Jones. With already turnout already low for the reliable white Republican voters, Moore was hit by a double-whammy as Jones’ mobilized famous black Alabamians to join his campaign with people like Charles Barkley. Along with that, millions poured into his campaign after the allegations were revealed, as Democrats and Republicans nationwide were appalled to hear that this man may be elected to the US Senate. All this combined allowed Jones to pull it off on Tuesday night.

This election also narrows the slim GOP majority to 51-49. That means Republicans can only lose two votes from their own party to pass partisan legislation. If Jones was in the Senate at the start of 2017 instead of 2018, he could have cast the vote to block the nomination of the controversial Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos along with a few other key bills like the Trump tax cut. Jones’ vote could be used to reinstate net neutrality, as only 51 votes are needed to reinstate the rules through the Congressional Review Act (CRA), and one Republican senator has already crossed the aisle meaning only one more vote is needed to reinstate the protections.

In the end, the election of Jones may mean a massive Democratic wave is on the horizon, or it may just demonstrate that Americans (narrowly) reject the idea of a pedophile senator.

]]>http://rhsirishgazette.org/743/news/a-hail-mary-in-the-deep-south-democrats-win-in-alabama/feed/0The Student Voter’s Guide to the 2018 Electionshttp://rhsirishgazette.org/740/student-life/the-student-voters-guide-to-the-2018-elections/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/740/student-life/the-student-voters-guide-to-the-2018-elections/#respondMon, 08 Jan 2018 21:32:22 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=740This year, we will go to the polls to vote on our entire Senate delegation, our federal House delegation, our Minnesota House delegation, our state governor and MANY other statewide positions. Seems hectic doesn’t it? Well that’s why we compiled this guide for eligible student voters to vote this year.

Wait, what’s the deal with all the elections at once?

Well, we got off lucky in 2016 due to the fact that we had no senator or governor election, and all we had to deal with were state legislature elections and the President. That luck ran out this year though, so we’ll have to brave a high amount of political ads this year.

Where do I start?

The first thing you should do is register to vote when you are 18. It’s your right to voice your opinion on who represents you. You have no right to complain about taxes or policy if you didn’t vote!

Who is on the ballot?

That’s something still up in the air, but we do know who is retiring.

Governor Mark Dayton is not running for re-election after leading the state since 2011. Right now, it’s a crowded field of primary candidates on both sides, but that will be weaned out during the primary in August.

For Senate, it will most likely be incumbent Democrat Amy Klobuchar versus a Republican challenger. No candidates have emerged on the other side yet.

For the other Senate seat formerly held by Al Franken, it’s most likely going to be Democrat Tina Smith versus a Republican challenger. Again, no candidates have emerged on the other side yet.

Our House seat is currently held by Republican Jason Lewis, and he has not confirmed that he is running for re-election or going for one of the Senate seats. If he chooses to stay in the House, he will face off against either our own Jeff Erdmann or Angie Craig on the Democratic side. Our district is a swing district, and every vote counts!

At the state level, only the state House of Representatives is up for election. The RHS student body is divided into two different districts, with a majority in Republican Anna Wills district and the others in Democrat Erin Maye Quade’s district. Both are competitive seats.

Along with that mouthful of elections, there are elections for Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor and many other positions. All positions do matter and it’s best to fill in each category even if only one person is running for the seat.

Primary candidates are not included, but still check who is running and vote in the primaries in August.

My vote doesn’t matter so why should I even vote?

Not true at all. In fact one vote could have decided who controlled the Virginia House just this last fall. It could have been divided 50-50 but due to a tie in a district, they drew names from a pot and the Republicans won the drawing so the legislature is now 51-49. One vote could have changed the course of a state.

I want to donate to a political candidate and volunteer in their campaign.

Okay, great! But make sure to check the rules of the place you are donating to, they may not allow persons under the age of 18 to donate or volunteer.

It’s very important that everyone has a voice. You may have just turned 18 and are overwhelmed with grad party invites and plans for college but you also have obligations to your government. Make sure your voice is heard by the ones who rule you this fall. Go out and vote!

]]>http://rhsirishgazette.org/740/student-life/the-student-voters-guide-to-the-2018-elections/feed/0The US’ Long History With Puerto Ricohttp://rhsirishgazette.org/703/news/world-affairs/the-us-long-history-with-puerto-rico/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/703/news/world-affairs/the-us-long-history-with-puerto-rico/#respondMon, 11 Dec 2017 03:22:55 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=703In the wake of Hurricane Maria, approximately 79% of Puerto Rico no longer has access to electricity, and by extension many of the necessities needed for survival and recovery. Many people have been left without internet and cell service, access to clean water, and a way to store food. While the estimated death toll is currently in the 100s, this will likely increase as time goes on and people are left without access to the basic items they need to survive. The cost of repairs after this hurricane are estimated around thirty billion dollars, and will take many years to complete.

So, how will the citizens of Puerto Rico receive the funds that they need? As of October, FEMA had approved $35 million in grants to the islandㅡonly 10.8% of what was approved for Texas and 5.07% of what was approved for Florida. Despite this, President Trump stated that Puerto Rico is “throwing our budget out of whack,” and that “we’ve spent a lot of money in Puerto Rico.” As a territory of the United States, where citizens pay taxes, Puerto Rico is clearly entitled to government aid. But there has been a long history between the mainland and Puerto Rico, and one that has certainly not always been fair.

Puerto Rico was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, and was originally named San Juan Bautista. However, the name was changed to Puerto Rico after gold was found in a river. Despite the presence of gold, the economy of the island was primarily composed of cattle, sugar cane, coffee, and tobacco.

The French, the Dutch, and the English all attempted to conquer Puerto Rico and take it from Spain. Spain did not lose the island until 1898, when Puerto Rico was ceded to the US as a part of the treaty which ended the Spanish-American war. The US set up its own governmental structures there, leaving the democratically-elected parliament of the island unacknowledged, all while destroying the local economy through instituting a sugar-based business model which left the island with mass poverty. Despite all this US influence, only in 1917 would Puerto Ricans get the right to US citizenship, and only in 1952 would it become a commonwealth.

Last year, Puerto Rico held a referendum in which the majority of people voted for the island to become a state. If so, then why are we not seeing an extra star added to the flag? One explanation lies with the Insular Cases, a series of legal opinions from 1901. The Insular Cases stated that Puerto Rico was full of “alien races” who did not understand “Anglo-Saxon values” and that, because of this, the Constitution did not apply to them. These arguments and the lack of statehood may offer a reason as to why the US government is not as willing to extend federal funds to help Puerto Rico discover.

Rather than becoming a state, Puerto Rico spent a long time as a US military base. Two-thirds of the island was purchased to use as a naval base, mainly for the purposes of training and bombing practice. The base ran for sixty years until a civilian was killed in the 1990s and years of violent protest forced them to shut down in 2003. This complex and largely negative relationship with the military stretches back even furtherㅡPuerto Ricans were only granted citizenship in order to fight in World War I.

One would think that all this history with the United States would warrant some education about Puerto Rico in our schools, but clearly, we have none. Of the five people I interviewed, only one knew that Christopher Columbus had discovered Puerto Rico, which is a very simple and easy to guess fact. In fact, only two people knew that Puerto Rico was a territory; the rest just said they didn’t know. No one knew that it was once a military base, no one knew how we obtained the island, and no one had ever heard of the Insular Cases.

The US’ relationship with Puerto Rico, its own territory, is clearly very poor. Citizens there are not allowed to vote in our general elections, revolutionaries are censored, and the legacy of mass poverty lives on. Puerto Rico deserves our respect and assistance, and the least we can do to begin that is education. Students should know about Puerto Rico, just like they would any other state. It’s time that US stops hiding from our colonial history, and uses our power in order to help places like Puerto Rico.

The Kidnapping

June 5th, 2002

“I have a knife at your neck, don’t make a sound. Get up and come with me.”

These were the words that Elizabeth Smart woke up to in the middle of the night of June 5th, 2002. She had gone to bed the previous night with apprehension about the following months, as she had just graduated middle school. She had laid next to her little sister, Mary Katherine, and had fallen fast asleep. When she woke up to the feeling of sharp metal against her neck, all she knew was that her sister was alive and awake; in fear that he would kill Mary Katherine, she had gone with the man. In her own kitchen, she heard the voice next to her again, “Make a sound and I’ll kill you and your family.” What followed her then was nine whole months of captivity and torture in the mountains of Salt Lake City, Utah right behind her house.

Meeting her Alleged Captors

Brain David Mitchell & Wanda Barzee

That voice that took 14-year-old Elizabeth out of her own bed that night was Brian David Mitchell. The religious fanatic claimed to be an angel sent down from heaven to restore the fundamentals of religion. He had called himself ‘Immanuel’ and also claimed to have kidnapped Smart for the reason that he had been told by God to “save his precious daughters”. But what he did to Elizabeth was anything but saving.

On that night in June 2002, Mitchell had taken Smart behind her own house to lead her up and over a mountain and into a camp. They had started to walk shortly after midnight and didn’t arrive until the sunrise. “I will kill you if you make a noise,” He said to her. “I will kill whoever comes up here to find you.” When they arrived, a woman came out of a tent sitting in the valley in front of them. This woman was Wanda Barzee, Mitchell’s wife. Smart had said that she was one of the scariest parts of arriving to the camp. “I remember she came out and she had on robes and she had on a headdress and she came up to me and she hugged me,” Smart stated in a 2013 interview with CNN. “But this hug was not comforting. I mean, if hugs could speak this hug would have said, ‘You’re mine, you will do exactly what I tell you to do.’” On that very first day, Barzee had forced Smart out of her pajamas and into matching robes. She would have to wear those robes almost every day for the next nine months.

Hell on Earth

“My kidnapping consisted of hunger, boredom, and rape.”

What also began that day was the constant sexual abuse by Mitchell. “The next nine months, my days consisted of being hungry, of being bored to death because he talked nonstop always about himself,” she said in the same CNN interview. “I mean, talk about self-absorbed. And then my days consisted of being raped. I mean, not just once, multiple times a day.”

After that first day, she woke to find her captors tying her to a tree with cables around her ankles. Her mobility was only twenty feet in any direction. Over those nine months, Smart has said that whenever she thought she had hit rock bottom, Mitchell would find something else to make things worse. He had begun to bring alcohol and drugs such as marijuana into the camp and then forcing Smart to consume them. He said that ‘in order to experience the purity of God, you have to experience the worst things that go against his rules’. Smart had woken up a morning after that with vomit encrusting her face and hair to the ground she was laying on. She has stated this to be one of her lowest moments.

A New Suspect

“Immanuel”

About halfway through her captivity, Elizabeth’s younger sister, Mary Katherine, finally put a name to the voice she heard in the early morning of June 5th. Earlier, she had said in an interview that the voice had sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had heard it. She had gone to her parents saying that the voice belonged to Immanuel, a local beggar who had done yard work for the family just months before the kidnapping. Until the point that police investigators started to suspect Immanuel, they had been investigating a man named Richard Ricci; he had had a criminal record. He died during the investigation but was still on the suspect list. It took awhile for police to suspect this seemingly strange “Immanuel”, and even harder for people to watch for him when that finally happened. When he had done yard work for the Smarts he had a clean-shaven face, but as of the kidnapping, he had a long beard and long hair, as if to resemble Jesus. As the police started to suspect him more, he was put on America’s Most Wanted.

Lost Hope & Lost Ways

Hidden in Plain Sight

At one point, Mitchell had started to bring Barzee and Smart to grocery store visits and around the town. Mitchell had actually brought them to a house party, where the eerie photo shown above was taken. The photo shows Elizabeth in the robe that her captors put her in, her eyes peeking out of the small slit of a burka. Mitchell is shown to the right, talking to a man that had attended the house party. “I was really hidden in plain sight.” Smart had said in a documentary, My Story. One of these days they went to the library to look at California destinations when a police officer arrived and walked toward their three-person group. They were dressed in the robes, and the officer had grown suspicious, as he got a call earlier from a woman who had thought she’d seen Smart. After some questioning, he believed that the robed girl standing right in front of him was not Elizabeth Smart as he first suspected. “At that point, I would break and tell the officer that I was indeed Elizabeth,” Keilani Sandkamp, freshman of RHS says. “It saddens me that she didn’t feel she was safe enough to yell after that officer even then when they were in the public library.” Mitchell had told him that the robes were for religious purposes, and that the girl was just his daughter; he was convincing enough to make the officer’s suspicions vanish. “I remember watching that police officer be fully convinced that I wasn’t Elizabeth Smart, and turn around, and walk out of the library,” Elizabeth states in a documentary, Elizabeth’s Story. “And that was almost just as bad as being kidnapped, being raped, as being chained up.” At that point during Smart’s captivity, Mitchell had brought her and Barzee to California, where Smart panicked. Her thought was if no one was finding her in her home state, then who would find her in California? She ended up finding a way to trick Mitchell, saying God had spoken to her and said that they need to go back to Utah. She told him that he should speak with God, and the next day he claimed that he had experienced the same ordeal, and they went back. She had succeeded in manipulating her own kidnapper.

Her Discovery

March 12th, 2003

On the day of March 12th, 2003, the three-person group had gone into a grocery store, still robed, where Smart realized that along with a line of ‘missing person’ fliers, her face was not among them. She first thought was that people had stopped looking for her, and she almost immediately started to lose the last bit of hope she had. Little did she know that a woman had seen Mitchell and suspected that it was him, and had called the police. As they were walking down the sidewalk along the street, police car after police car started pulling up beside them until they were surrounded. As they got out started asking questions, they asked the seemingly young girl if she was Elizabeth Smart, but even then, she hesitated. “What if the policemen didn’t believe me?” Smart says in the same documentary, Elizabeth’s Story. “What if they release me back to Mitchell and Barzee, what would they do to me then? What would they do to my family?” She had not said anything until she was brought to the nearby police station when her father came into the room. “And I just started crying,” Her father says, “And finally, I said, ‘Elizabeth, is it you?’ and she said, ‘Yes dad it’s really me,’ and then she started to cry.”

Elizabeth Smart Today

Her Recovery

Brian David Mitchell was sentenced to life in federal prison; Wanda was sentenced 15 years in 2010, according to CNN. Today, Elizabeth Smart is happily married with two children. She has said that her Mormon faith is what helped her hold on the most during those tortuous 9 months. In an interview with National Public Radio, Smart says, “So during my kidnapping, there were moments when I felt so low. I felt like I didn’t have anybody to turn to except God. He was sending me guardian angels to help me make it through my darkest moments.” In October of 2013, Smart published her memoir titled, My Story. She published the book to spread more awareness about her story so victims of similar abuse and similar situations would know that they’re not alone. She has had many interviews, several documentaries made about her story and many speeches she presented; for instance, she had a TedTalk in 2014 called “My Story” where she explains what happened to her and how she survived.

“Why didn’t you try to escape?”

Smart’s Insight

Smart has received the question “Why didn’t you try to escape?” many times since her rescue. In some perspectives, there is some confusion revolving around the fact that she didn’t try to escape. However, she did have one escape attempt during her captivity; Mitchell and Barzee were both intoxicated when the attempt occurred, but the attempt still failed. Mitchell had caught Elizabeth near the exit of the camp and had stopped her from escaping. Smart has said that she actually finds this question relatively offensive, as people assume she just didn’t have the strength or bravery the escape. But that’s not the case; many times during her captivity, Smart’s captors had threatened to kill her and/or her family if she tried to escape. “You can never judge a child or a victim of any crime on what they should have done, because you weren’t there and you don’t know and you have no right just to sit in your armchair at home and say ‘Well, why didn’t you escape? Why didn’t you do this?’ I mean, they just don’t know,” she said in the CNN interview. “That’s wrong. And I was 14. I was a little girl. And I had seen this man successfully kidnap me, he successfully chained me up, he successfully raped me, he successfully did all of these things. What was to say that he wouldn’t kill me when he’d make those threats to me? What was to say that he wouldn’t kill my family?”

“I am Elizabeth Smart”

Recent Lifetime Movie

If you are a frequent watcher of the Lifetime channel and/or general primetime television, you may or may not be aware of the new Lifetime movie that came out on November 18th, 2017. 2017 marks 15 years since her kidnapping. I am Elizabeth Smartfollows Elizabeth’s story, from when she was captured to when she was found. Smart says that the emotion and fear are portrayed almost perfectly by Alana Boden, the actress playing Elizabeth in the film. “It is really the best worst movie I’ve ever seen,” Smart says. Her reason for putting her story out there in a film is to spread more awareness about kidnapping and rape and to show that other victims in various circumstances are not alone.

]]>http://rhsirishgazette.org/695/news/i-am-elizabeth-smart/feed/0Rosemount Football head coach to run for Househttp://rhsirishgazette.org/655/sports/rosemount-football-head-coach-to-run-for-house/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/655/sports/rosemount-football-head-coach-to-run-for-house/#respondMon, 20 Nov 2017 20:29:58 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=655

Jeff Erdmann, the head coach of the football team and American Government teacher announced his plans last spring to run in the 2018 midterm elections. His first step on the way to Washington is entering the Democratic primary, and at the moment his only opponent is Angie Craig who lost last year to the current incumbent Jason Lewis.

What made him decide to run? He references something he says at every start of the school year centering around standing up for a bullied student, “a: Is it funny to laugh [at the student], b: you ignore it, or c: you stand up and say something about it. A and B are the same answer. If you do nothing about it, that shows that you’re okay with this behavior and it will manifest itself over and over again. After this election, our family is choosing C. I’m not okay with the direction the country is going.” He’s talking about the important role everyone plays in shaping the culture of RHS. Erdmann has been devoted to shaping the culture of Rosemount for many years, taking the football team to the state tournament season ten times and teaching here for 20 years.

“If we keep sending millionaires and billionaires to Congress, they don’t understand what regular people are going through. And that’s a very frustrating part for me.” Erdmann said. He’s right, according to OpenSecrets.org in 2015, 50.8 percent of Congress were millionaires or richer. The composition of Congress has also shifted from common people and veterans in the mid-20th century to businessmen and rich entrepreneurs.

The last time a Democrat won our congressional district was 1998 and obviously to any party, this would be a daunting task to end a losing streak of 20 years. Erdmann is optimistic, he says “I think people want change, there are lots of people standing up for the first time getting involved in the political process and I think there are Democrats and Republicans that are very frustrated with the direction their party is going.” It is true what he’s saying, many people are predicting a Democratic wave in the 2018 midterms due to many factors like President Trump’s unpopularity, enthusiasm on the left and divisions on the right. And this has happened recently too, with the “Republican Revolution” in 1994, a Democratic wave in 2006 and the Tea Party in 2010.

One thing students learn from Erdmann’s classes is that when people want change in government, the House is the first to flip. Erdmann is gunning to be that change.

]]>http://rhsirishgazette.org/655/sports/rosemount-football-head-coach-to-run-for-house/feed/0Catalan Crisishttp://rhsirishgazette.org/706/news/world-affairs/catalan-crisis/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/706/news/world-affairs/catalan-crisis/#respondSat, 18 Nov 2017 03:11:17 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=706Catalonia, a wealthy region in Spain, has been in the throes of unrest for the past several weeks. The pro-independence regional government coalition lead by President Carles Puidgemont called a controversial referendum on the question of secession on 1 October. It had an official result of 90 percent of voters supporting succession. However, after it was ruled unconstitutional by a Spanish court, the vote was largely boycotted by the No camp. Since then, the national government lead by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has evoked its constitutional power to suspend the regional government and assume direct rule of Catalonia.

How did we get here?

The Catalan people have a history of dissatisfaction with rule from Madrid. During Francisco Franco’s dictatorship of Spain, the region was brutally suppressed. Since the 1978 Constitution was adopted, Catalonia has been entitled to a regional parliament, which would have limited powers of self governance.

Newfound calls for an independence referendum came from Mr Puidgemont’s government. After Spain’s constitutional court ruled such a vote illegal, those opposing Catalan independence from Spain boycotted the election. As a consequence, the turnout for the vote was only 43 percent. Reports of Spanish police brutality in suppressing the vote and seizing ballots came from across the region, but most focused around the region’s capital, Barcelona.

The Catalan government announced that the parliament had been granted the mandate to declare independence. This was at odds with the opinion of the national constitutional court. As in the United States, Spain’s constitution outlines no mechanism for the secession of its states. On 27 October, the Catalan parliament voted to ratify a declaration of independence, which was suspended by Mr Puidgemont’s government so that negotiations with Spain over secession could be sought out.

In response, Mr Rajoy invoked the power granted to him as Prime Minister by Article 155 of the constitution, which stipulates that regional parliaments can be temporarily dissolved in extraordinary circumstances. By doing so, he dismissed Mr Puidgemont and his ministers from their positions in the Catalan government, many of whom left the country to seek refuge in Belgium. Meanwhile, the Spanish parliament has assumed direct control of Catalonia, with new elections for the regional parliament scheduled for 21 December.

What’s happens now?

For the foreseeable future, Catalonia appears set to remain a part of Spain. While there has been unrest, there has been no significant pushback against Spanish rule. Recently, Spain has issued European arrest warrants (valid throughout the European Union) for the self-exiled members of the former Catalan government. Some of them have willingly returned to Spain to face prosecution, while Mr Puigdemont remains in Belgium with some of his ministers preferring not to return to Spain unless guaranteed a fair trial.

The prospect of Catalan independence in 2017 was marred by many obstacles. Most notably, the European Union openly opposed it, saying that an independent Catalonia would not become part of the coalition of nations. This came as many businesses in Catalonia moved their headquarters into other parts of Spain for fear of the economic fallout of an independent Catalonia. The charges to be leveled against the former ministers of the region are yet to be fully revealed, but it seems as though any form of secession will not take place. Whether or not pro-independence parties will again command a majority in the region’s parliament and reopen the question of autonomy is a question for the December elections.

]]>http://rhsirishgazette.org/706/news/world-affairs/catalan-crisis/feed/0Mandarin Chinese at Rosemount High Schoolhttp://rhsirishgazette.org/664/opinion/mandarin-chinese-at-rosemount-high-school/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/664/opinion/mandarin-chinese-at-rosemount-high-school/#respondSat, 21 Oct 2017 17:41:22 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=664I take Chinese class at Rosemount High School, and I noticed that I am in the minority. I think that more people should be taking Mandarin Chinese in high school.

The only schools in District 196 that have Mandarin Chinese classes are Diamond Path, Rosemount Middle School, Scott Highlands, Eastview High School, and Rosemount High School, as opposed to the 11 schools in District 196 that have Spanish classes. ( http://www.district196.org/academics/world-languages/ )

From experience, I would recommend Chinese class. The main objective is learning about translations from English to Mandarin Chinese. In addition to learning to speak the translation words in Chinese, called Pinyin, students also must memorize the Chinese characters, or the written forms of those words.

Maddie Michels, freshman at Rosemount High School, has been taking Chinese since Kindergarten and is planning to take it through high school. This is what she has to say:

What do you like about Chinese?

“I like how it is different from most other languages and it is a good experience.”

Why do you think it is a good experience?

“It is a good life skill because it can help you with jobs and traveling.”

Do you think Chinese is hard, easy?

“I think it’s a challenge.”

Would you recommend Chinese class?

“Yes.”

According to Maddie, Chinese is a good experience, but a challenge. But even if it is difficult, I would still suggest Mandarin Chinese to anyone who is interested.

]]>http://rhsirishgazette.org/664/opinion/mandarin-chinese-at-rosemount-high-school/feed/0Red Zones: School Dividedhttp://rhsirishgazette.org/604/opinion/red-zones-school-divided/
http://rhsirishgazette.org/604/opinion/red-zones-school-divided/#respondMon, 16 Oct 2017 20:19:42 +0000http://rhsirishgazette.org/?p=604In the new school year, Rosemount High School has issued a new policy known as the “Red Zones” and has given students their own iPad. As the interviews began, a clear divide was brought to light. The Red Zones are rules that mandate students must put away their phones in classes, hence the name, or face the device being taken away. The only time phones are allowed to be used is during passing time, called “Green Zones”. This is different from years past, because the administration are forced to enforce the policy. Tracy Larson, a Spanish teacher, is pro-Red Zones. Larson has “been pleased with it and most kids are good about adhering to it, it’s made my job much easier,” she explains, “I no longer have to be looking for phones and what not.” She “sure as heck hopes” that this policy goes this distance. While she acknowledged that iPads have begun to take the place of phones, she did say that those who enforce it have better class averages and with regard to the kids that don’t really care, she was not surprised at their grades in her class. However, Tessa Rossini, a senior attending the school, dislikes the idea and felt as though the school “dismissed the fact that people use their phones for things besides going on Snapchat.” She continues: “people may need to contact family and some people listen to music because it helps them concentrate and deal with their anxiety.” She brought points that questioned the relevancy of Red Zones. When asked about the iPads, Rossini had a similar viewpoint as Larson. Both said iPads are taking the place of devices. However, Rossini felt that the iPads weren’t needed. She further explains that the “money could have gone elsewhere,” and how students already had a smaller device, phones. Both agreed that the iPads were useful, but not a necessary addition. A question should be asked, if Red Zones are suppose to ban devices during class, then why were iPads brought in?